"He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy".
Well first let me say it's good to be back on here and writing again, it's been a while. It's not because God hasn't been sharing with me... but sometimes it's just between He and I. :)
This week has been a difficult one for many along the east coast of our beautiful nation with the onset of Hurricane Sandy. Perhaps someone is reading this right now that has suffered a direct impact from this mighty storm. I hope that you know that we have all been praying for you as each day has passed. It's hard to talk about joy when there is such devastation but the word tells us in Philippians 4:4 to rejoice ALWAYS. I know... easy for me to say as I didn't just survive the storm of all storms; but there have been times that I was the survivor of a great storm in my life although it appeared in a different manner.
Life has a way of knocking us down, tossing us about like we are nothing but a small boat on the vast ocean. But off in the distance there is a grand lighthouse casting it's light and giving us a beacon of hope guiding us safely ashore. The waves continue to crash around us, the storm beats hard against the hull of our little boat where we are clinging on barely to one oar to keep moving. But we hold on because we know if we can just navigate into the path of the light that we will make it safely.
Can you just picture all of this for a moment. As all seems lost.... there He is.... our lighthouse, King Jesus, cheering us on and saying don't give up, I am with you my child, let me give you strength to keep pushing through. Nehemiah 8:10 says "The joy of the Lord is your strength". There is strength found in keeping joy in your heart even in the midst of the storm. I find sometimes the best medicine to help me break free from sinking deep into sadness or dispare is to find laughter. Proverbs 17:22 tells us that a cheerful heart is good medicine. There is great healing power in laughter. Have you ever tried to be sad and laugh at the same time? It's hard! The laughter starts to cast out the sadness if even for a little while.
Last Sunday our church did a lifesize Candyland game. I wasn't sure how many families would actually show up as the weather had already begun to get windy and cold but when have you ever met a kid who would give up an afternoon of joy and laughter over a little wind and dropping temperatures? One by one the kiddos came, one by one they touched the hearts of us watching as they lit up like little lighthouses, big beaming smiles casting away all the cares of the weather, the approaching storm as if it didn't exist at all. Oh to be be like a child again. We all should take time to be like children again... lighting up the world around us with big beaming smiles filled with joy and laughter because we have a lighthouse in our Savior that will always bring us through our storms.
Are you struggling to make it to shore, lost in the darkness of the storm around you unable to see the light trying to guide you safely through? Has your joy and laughter been replaced with sadness and discontentment? Look to Jesus, He is the light of the world breaking through the darkest storms to reach you and guide you safely home.
Blessings,
Heather
